Trust
by Faikitty
Summary: Ice skating is not Shion's forte.


**A/N:** I haven't read/watched No. 6 for a very long time, so my apologies for any OOC-ness. This was a present for a friend.

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"Ice skating?" Shion looks up from his book curiously. "I've been before, but that was a long time ago. Why do you ask?"

Nezumi holds up a pair of ice skates in either hand. "I found these the other day. It snowed last night, and there's a lake not far from here that's frozen over. I thought you could use a break," he suggests, swinging the skates slightly. "Besides, you're so puny. Skating could help you get stronger."

Shion looks back at his book, not reading it so much as staring at the pages. "I wasn't very good," he admits. He absolute does _not_ need to tell the other boy that last time he went skating he fell after less than ten seconds, broke his ankle, and nearly caused another five people to do the same. "Besides, skating once isn't going to make me stronger."

"No, but it's a start." Nezumi sets down the skates and sits on the arm of the couch, leaning over him to see what he's reading. "You've already read this." He snatches it from Shion's hands before the smaller boy can protest. "You've already read _all_ of my books. Come ice skating with me and I'll find you a new one."

That's an offer Shion won't refuse.

* * *

Shion regrets his decision almost immediately.

Nezumi is out on the ice before Shion is even able to get the skates on, and the moment he stands up and tries to walk the five steps to the lake, he falls over. It takes him several tries before he's able to get onto the ice, and when he starts sliding forward, he panics and falls again.

Nezumi, meanwhile, skates circles around him—literally.

"How do I stop?" Shion asks when the dark-haired boy skates by him again.

"You seem to have stopping down," Nezumi replies with a smirk. "Falling isn't the most effective way to stop, but it's one way. You might want to try learning to move forward before you worry about stopping." Then he glides away again.

Shion manages to stand and tries to copy Nezumi's fluid motions, pushing out with one foot and then the other, and he makes it a few feet before the toe of his blade hits a rough patch of ice and sends him sprawling. He lands hard enough this time to knock the wind out of him, so he rolls onto his back to catch his breath.

Nezumi's face appears over his head a few seconds later. "Need a hand?"

"Please." Shion worries for a moment that he's going to pull the other boy down, but Nezumi lifts him back to his feet with ease. "I warned you I wasn't good at this." His ears are burning, and it has nothing to do with the cold.

Nezumi grins and holds out his hands. "Hang onto me. I won't let you fall."

"I'll knock you over too, though," Shion protests, and Nezumi gives a snort of laughter.

"Don't worry. I'm strong enough to keep you up."

So Shion takes his hands, lets Nezumi skate backwards slowly so Shion can try to make his way forward. And when Shion inevitably trips, Nezumi holds him up with ease. He can trust Nezumi; he should know that by now. Over time, he starts to gain confidence—even though he still doesn't trust himself to let go of Nezumi. It's almost _fun_ like this, holding Nezumi's hands and learning to ice skate.

Nezumi doesn't seem bothered by Shion's occasional stumbles. "Don't look at the ground. Look at me," he urges, so Shion does.

That might have been a mistake.

Nezumi is pretty, distractingly so, and a distraction is the last thing he needs right now. Nezumi's gray eyes shine almost white in sunlight glinting off the snow and ice, strands of dark hair blowing across them from time to time, the corners of his mouth drawn up in a smile that makes Shion rather want to kiss him. It's starting to snow again, and he's more radiant than ever with white flakes settling on his lashes.

And maybe Shion is somehow a distraction to him too, because when Shion trips again, it tips Nezumi off balance, and both of them tumble to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs. The only thing that saves them from both getting injured is their proximity to the edge of the lake. Instead of landing on unforgiving ice, Nezumi lands in a snowdrift and Shion on top of him.

"A-Are you okay?" Shion stammers, sitting up as best he can. "I _knew_ this was a bad idea. I warned you I couldn't skate. I'm sorry. We should go back."

Nezumi glares at him, and Shion is worried for a few seconds that he made the other boy angry. But then Nezumi's arms wrap around his shoulders to pull him back down into a kiss that is very clearly meant to silence him. "You're fine," Nezumi sighs, and Shion rests his head against the other boy's chest. "I did worse the first time I went ice skating."

"You? Impossible."

"I fell _through_ the ice. I literally landed so hard I _broke_ the ice."

Shion thinks he probably _shouldn't_ laugh at that, but the mental image of the ever-graceful Nezumi somehow falling with so much force that he shatters the ice is so funny that he can't help it.

And when Nezumi kisses him again to shut him up, Shion thinks maybe this isn't so bad.


End file.
